1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of roofing and, more particularly, to hip and ridge roof covers having correlated dimensions which provide a cover having an attractive aesthetic appearance, enhanced installation and design features and which may be made without any significant waste of starting material.
2. Description of Related Art
Roofing for homes and other buildings is very well known in the prior art and a number of different roofing systems such as tiles, wood shakes, slates and asphalt composition shingles have been used. Each type of roofing system has certain features and advantages and a choice is usually made based on a compromise between durability, price and aesthetics. Slate roofs for example, are very durable and attractive, but are very expensive. Tile roofs are also very durable and expensive but are generally suitable for only certain type homes from an aesthetic standpoint.
An asphalt composition roof made up of individual shingles is relatively durable and inexpensive and is the most commonly used today in the industry. This type of roof is relatively flat in appearance however, which is noticeable when used as ridge or hip covers.
This problem with asphalt composition roofs has had considerable attention over the years in an attempt to provide a roof covering which while inexpensive and durable would also have the attractive and aesthetic architectural features of other roofing systems such as slate, tile and wood shakes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,294 provides an asphalt composition ridge cover and method of installation whereby a decorative appearance somewhat resembling that of a shake roof ridge is achieved. The ridge cover generally is a flat, approximately rectangular and continually tapered piece of asphalt composition roofing material which is folded to form portions of increased thickness which, when installed, the thickened portions force the ridges to take the appearance of that of a shake shingle or a tile roof.
Related U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,434,589 and 4,439,955 provide asphalt composition ridge covers whereby a generally flat approximately rectangular piece of asphalt composition roofing has a plurality of tabs at one end which are multiply folded over one another thereby forming a region of increased thickness at that end. The ridge cover gradually thickens from the back of the ridge cover toward the front of the ridge cover and the ridge cover appears at the exposed end four to five times as thick as a conventional asphalt shingle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,783 discloses an asphalt composition roofing design which may be used as a starter piece, edge covering, rake covering and ridge or hip cover. To form a ridge or hip cover, a square piece is folded at multiple fold lines. U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,042 shows another ridge cover design used to shingle houses whereby the cover is constructed from a rectangular sheet of asphalt composition having a plurality of folding tabs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,771 discloses a ridge shingle unit which provides for a multilayer coverage of a ridge or hip of a structure. The ridge cover has a tapered periphery which it is disclosed permits a margin of error in application so that a pleasing contour is achieved without strict adherence to a straight line. In this design a single sheet of roofing material is folded back on itself three times in the center portion to provide a multilayered folded ridge shingle unit.
While asphalt hip and ridge shingles of the prior art have areas of multiple thickness to provide the appearance of that of a wood shake or tile, industry still demands improved shingles which have aesthetic and architectural appeal while at the same time requiring that the shingles be able to be manufactured efficiently with a minimum of waste at the manufacturing site and with no need for trimming of the shingle by the installer at the building site. It is also desired that the shingle be securely attached to the roof without the need for excessive nailing and that the positioning of the shingles be as simple as possible due to the use of generally unskilled roofing labor.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiency of the prior art, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an asphalt composition roof covering for hips and ridges having these enhanced properties.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for making hip and ridge asphalt composition roof coverings which method has substantially no waste of starting material as a result of the manufacturing process while still producing a covering having enhanced architectural and installation properties.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an unfolded sheet of asphalt composition material which can be easily folded to form a hip or ridge cover during manufacture which is aesthetically and architecturally pleasing.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description.